Venezuela’s president, Nicolas Maduro, has vowed to retaliate following the recent deployment of United States warships near his nation in the Caribbean.
During a Monday news conference in Caracas, Maduro declared that his country was at ‘maximum preparedness’ to strengthen its maritime forces in the waters surrounding Venezuela this week.
The United States has already directed the deployment of spy planes, a warship, and a submarine to the Southern Caribbean Sea to counter the increasing threat from Latin American drug cartels.
‘In the face of this maximum military pressure, we have declared maximum preparedness for the defense of Venezuela,’ Maduro stated regarding the U.S. deployment, which he described as ‘an extravagant, unjustifiable, immoral and absolutely criminal and bloody threat.’
He further cautioned that U.S. military action against Venezuela would ‘stain’ President Donald Trump’s ‘hands with blood.’
‘President Donald Trump, the pursuit of regime change is exhausted; it has failed as a policy worldwide,’ Maduro said. ‘You cannot pretend to impose a situation in Venezuela.’
The dictator also labeled Secretary of State Marco Rubio a ‘warlord’ advocating for action in the Caribbean to overthrow Venezuela’s Left-wing regime.
The U.S. has not indicated any plans for a land invasion involving the thousands of personnel being deployed.
Maduro also used his news conference to assert that he was the rightful winner of last year’s presidential election.
However, credible evidence has contradicted this claim, leading several countries, including the U.S., to refuse to recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s president.
Maduro, who was sworn in for a third six-year term in January, noted that his regime maintains two channels of communication with the Trump administration, one with the State Department and another with Trump’s envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell.
Since the July 2024 presidential election, Venezuela’s political opposition has been pressing the U.S. and other nations to push for Maduro’s removal from office.
Last month, opposition leader María Corina Machado expressed gratitude to Trump and Rubio for the deployment of the vessels, calling the move ‘the right approach’ toward Venezuela’s government, which she labeled a ‘criminal enterprise.’
A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.
Nnamdi Okoli
